Cómplices inocentes

Susan Walker (Mercedes Ruehl) is arrested and the police raid her family home. One month earlier, the widower with two kids thought she hit the jackpot with boyfriend Russell. It turns out he's growing weed with his friends. She throws him out but the law charges her as a co-conspirator anyways. Mandatory minimum sentence makes her just as culpable. Others implicate her to receive lower sentences while she has no information to trade. Everything she owns is seized. She loses her job. She's convicted and sentenced to 20 years. In prison, new girl Danielle (Rachel McAdams) was similarly convicted.

The first half is a bit slow. It's more of an education rather than a drama. McAdams comes in halfway through. Her role is small but she gets a couple of emotional scenes. Ruehl powers this movie. The second half has some prison dramas.

This is an issue that still gets little attention from the media. Kudos to the writer and director for addressing one of the several crises (including health care and prison reform) that are still in shambles today.

Mercedes Ruehl is excellent as a woman who merely dated someone (who happened to be a drug dealer.) She was a nurse and had young children in the house, and once she realized what was going on she kicked the boyfriend (Russell) out.

At any rate she was arrested for associating with a drug ring. She had answered the phone a few times and merely taken a message, like anyone would in a busy house with children, friends, etc. Apparently the burden of proof for the prosecution in this criminal case was accepted as hearsay. People are guilty until proved innocent once they are "in the system". And if you cannot afford an excellent criminal attorney to defend you, the system is unjust.

We see many of the women in similar situations who were imprisoned with ridiculous sentences, some for 100 years. This is a disgrace that this can occur here in the U.S. If you like this film you may also enjoy "Against Their Will: Women in Prison", starring Judith Light as a woman who was unjustly imprisoned. 10/10 Very highly recommended.

I had no idea (and I'll bet there are a lot of folks who shared my ignorance, hence the need for this movie to be made) that there is a federal law of mandatory minimum sentencing with regard to drug association. In this tv drama Guilt by Association, Mercedes Ruehl discovers how dangerous being innocent it can be. Her boyfriend, Alex Carter, smokes marijuana with his friends and sometimes sells a little supply so he can get his own for free. Mercedes hates his recreational activity, and she actually breaks up with him since he doesn't want to stop. Then, one day, the police barge into her house and arrest her in front of her children. Her house and other possessions are seized by the government, and she's charged with four counts of conspiracy to sell and assisting in drug dealing. Alex's friends all turn on her to reduce their sentences, and in court, innocent actions are twisted around: She took a few phone messages when Alex was busy, and once she returned his gym bag he'd left at her house, not knowing it was filled with drugs instead of workout attire.

Because of the mandatory minimum law, she's given an outrageous sentence, far longer than those who actually did the drug dealing. It's shocking and horrifying, and she has to say goodbye to her young children. By the time her sentence (which is not eligible for parole) is up, her kids will be adults. While in prison, she finds out that many, many other women have been imprisoned for the same crime: taking a few phone calls for their boyfriends, or knowing what they were up to and choosing not to blow the whistle.

This is tough to watch, since anyone who has seen Caged knows women's prisons are rough. Threats, violence, solitary confinement, and without even a semi-private cell while she sleeps, Mercedes lives through Hell and gives an excellent performance. This is one of those movies that makes you inspired to write your congressman, and it's a subject I'd never heard of before. I've seen countless prison movies, but never one where the victim has been sentenced to more years than the person who actually did the crime. In the film, the judge himself says he believes the sentence to be too harsh, but Congress has taken any power to change it out of his hands. If you only think of Mercedes Ruehl as being a flashy girl with long nails wearing animal print, this sobering drama will certainly change your mind about her.

Good story. I feel for those families that lost their time with their parents.

Guilt By Association is one of those TV movies that someone decides to create in order to inform the public about the great injustice of something going on in our nation. It's meant to inspire frustration from the general public so that they might be inspired to seek change by getting involved or even voting for the people who oppose these things. Because the film is structured so blatantly to tackle a specific topic, at times the characters themselves and their story take a backseat. I'm all for informing people about the ugly truths of the war on drugs and how mandatory minimums work, but a documentary like 13th does a more effective job of it than Guilt By Association. I don't know, perhaps to inspire the proper amount of outrage certain people need to see Mercedes Ruehl (a white mother-figure) impacted by these ugly laws, and cute little Rachel McAdams too. But I don't think it makes people truly face the reality of what the nation created these laws to do. I was duly frustrated with the unfair things that happen to the characters in this movie, but I wouldn't suggest someone watch it just for the sake of getting outraged. The whole story is even uglier than the one small piece highlighted in Guilt By Association.